Shoot Me Down (But I Won't Fall)
by melissawtf
Summary: Sequel to "Fix You". A girl's night out for Camille, Pepper, and Natasha doesn't go quite as planned. There's tears, blood, and a family broken. But with SHIELD involved, what's dead never stays dead and the team is in for one hell of a surprise.
1. Shoot Me Down

**AN:** If you haven't read my fic "Fix You", well then you might be confused with what's being said in here. So yeah, you might wanna go read that or risk being left wondering who the hell this OC is and what she means to the team.

* * *

Five years.

It's been five long busy years that Camille Saunders has been an Avenger.

She's been through a lot as a working hero- her preferred partner now being Natasha. It had been Clint at one time but after one mission in Romania where he pissed off one too many thugs and then made her shift into a horse so he could actually _ride her away from the danger_ , well.. she changed her mind. And also, if she heard _giddy up_ one more time, she was going to junk kick the archer.

She had been more than ecstatic with her decision in joining the initiative, although, life with SHIELD and the Avengers wasn't all happy-go-lucky as she had hoped.

There were successful missions and there were failures. There were many cuts, gashes, bullet holes, broken bones, and stitches but she always ended the week with a smile and a couple beers. And one of the main things that really sucked about being a full time Avenger was that the more she became a functioning adult- the more Coulson seemed to pull away from her and leave her be which she didn't like at all. Clint and Natasha had tried telling her to not take it personally but, of course, she did. Especially when Coulson got a whole new team to go out into the field with and he seemed to take a new girl under his wing only to treat her like a daughter.

That had been her at one time but now that she was doing things on her own and going out on missions with the Black Widow, it seemed like Phil Coulson wasn't in her life as much as she wished he'd be. So when her emotions eventually got the best of her and Camille needed a little pick me up, her mind somehow landed on art. More specifically _\- tattoo art_.

SHIELD didn't like any of their agents with marks or piercings on their bodies that enemies could identify but seeing as she was an Avenger- well, she didn't care either way. With a vague idea in mind of what she wanted, Camille looked up the best tattoo parlor in New York and booked an appointment for a week later. After all, rash decisions weren't good ideas in the long run but if after a week she still wanted a tattoo then she was going to get a tattoo.

And a week later after hours of a needle digging into her skin, Camille takes a cab ride home, and readies herself for the thoughts of her friends and family on what they thought about the green vine-like plant that curved around her ear and down the side of her neck. She never did let her hair grow back in, well she did but a full head of hair didn't last long and she had Clint shave it back down.

Natasha was the only one to tell her she was stupid for getting the tattoo.. and then later tell her that it suited her. Everyone else had been shocked, not that she got a tattoo but about it's placement, and then went on with their day as if nothing had happened. But just as life started taking an excellent turn with Tony as a pseudo dad, the Avenger boys as pseudo uncles, the Hulk- of all people- as a brother, Natasha as a sister, and Pepper a mother, HYDRA decided to shoot everyone's happiness to shit.

The old-school Nazi organization decided they wanted to run things, compromising SHIELD and making Captain America an enemy of the agency. There had been a hit out on Fury, Steve, and Natasha- HYDRA bringing in someone they called the Winter Soldier- but the group managed to come together along with some friends in high places and take back SHIELD while rooting out the traitors. Steve hadn't been the same after that fight, he admitting to knowing the identity of the Winter Soldier and that had been a hell of a blow. With James Buchanan Barnes still alive and kicking after being HYDRA's weapon, Steve had been dead set on finding his once best friend.

So, of course, Steve was away when news of the Inhumans broke. And, of course, one just so happened to be on Coulson's new team.

Thor and Lady Sif had dropped by to warn his fellow Avengers of the threat the Inhumans posed. He told them how the Inhumans were created by the Kree to be used as weapons but when the Kree saw how dangerous their creations turned out, the Kree sought to destroy each and every one of them. But apparently, they missed a couple way back then and the Inhumans multiplied over the years. Although, as Lady Sif came to know, not all Inhumans were dangerous.

The Inhuman on Coulson's team was actually a decent one, therefore got a free pass to stay on Midgard with her team even after Sif told them how dangerous the Inhumans can be. Camille wasn't comfortable- especially since the girl didn't know control yet- and reached out to Coulson. Only when she finally got Coulson on the phone, he told her not to worry and quickly ended the call under the guise of having other matters to tend to.

Although, the Inhumans weren't being as discrete as they once were and the public ended up finding out about the new race. And when one too many Inhumans decided to use their powers for the not so greater good, it started up a whole new political fight between the humans and the enhanced so, of course, the mutants got dragged back into it once more.

And when Camille's position as an Avenger was questioned because of her abilities, Stark had a whole team of lawyers to defend her. But sadly, said lawyers couldn't really defend the mutant when she was walking the streets and started scuffles that turned into full blown riots just because of her existence.

Steve finally comes home when things start cooling off, he bringing with him a lost and confused Bucky Barnes. They then tried everything to make the man feel welcomed after a few health tests declared him healthy but he was skittish around everyone who wasn't Steve or Natasha. And then when he did start letting his guard down, he always blushed in Camille's presence and fled when words wouldn't come to him. But Camille being Camille, she just shrugged it off.

* * *

Camille had just gotten back from a long day on the Helicarrier, peeling off her uniform as she stumbles into her room. Phone ringing, the blonde groans with her suit halfway off and bends over to pull the ringing device from her boot. And without glancing at the screen to see who's calling, she accepts the call with a yawn. "Saunders speaking. Make it quick."

 _"Someone's in a mood."_

Camille freezes, a lazy smirk forming and finishes stripping to undergarments. "Natasha. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

 _"Pepper and I are tired of the testosterone in the tower. We're getting pizza so you're needed in the garage in twenty."_

"But I- I-"

 _"Twenty minutes, sestra."_

The call disconnects and Camille holds the phone out in front of her face, staring at it in disbelief. And then realizing that one minute has just ticked by, she tosses her phone onto the bed and rushes into the bathroom. When Natasha tells you to be somewhere within a certain time frame then you better be there. Camille's tried the redhead's patience only once in her time at the tower and she'd never do it again. Never. Again. (Tony still has the video of Natasha using a shock baton with low voltage on the shifter in order to get her to move along.)

So jumping into the shower where she's careful to not wet her hair- seriously, she was not redoing the thin braid all over again where her hair met the shaven part of her head- Camille scrubs down in record time and brushes her teeth while in there. And then jumping back out of the shower, she grabs a fluffy towel from the closet in the bathroom and wraps herself in it.

Heading into her room, she hits the dresser first for an average cotton bra and hipster panties. After pulling them on, she then heads to her closet where she picks out a comfortable outfit that consists of a gray henley with three quarter sleeves and black ripped jeans. A dagger holster gets plucked from a hanger and is quickly tied around her abdomen beneath her shirt, Camille then quickly sheathing two daggers at the small of her back before she pulls her shirt down. Then sitting on her bed to pull on socks that she's pulled from her dresser, she checks her phone only to see she has two minutes left before she's meant to be downstairs. So grabbing a pair of boots from her closet, Camille quickly pockets some cash and her phone, and hops into the hallway as she tries to pull on her boots.

And when she makes it to the garage, both Natasha and Pepper are dressed fairly casually in jeans and boots- their jackets covering whatever shirt they chose to wear- and are laughing at something they're staring at on Natasha's phone.

"JARVIS sent you the video of my hopping, didn't he?"

"He did. At least you're on time, though," Pepper answers, smiling.

Camille rolls her eyes in good humor, glancing to the left only to see their driver. "Happy! Long time no see, my friend."

"Miss Camille," he smiles fondly. "It's been four months, I believe."

The shifter laughs as she steps up to him and briefly hugs him. "How's the wife?"

There's a moment's pause and then his smile turns rather goofy. "Pregnant."

"What?! No way! Congrats!"

"Thank you," he blushes.

Natasha and Pepper are already seated in the backseat so Camille happily takes the front passenger seat as Happy closes the back door. "Looks like I'm ridin' up front." Happy chuckles and walks around to pull open the driver side door before settling in. "So tell me," Camille then keeps up their conversation. "-has the wife had any weird cravings? That's a thing, right? The cravings."

"It is." His gaze is focused on where he's driving so she takes no offense with the no eye contact. "Lately, it's been pickles and spicy mustard."

Camille mock gags and Happy chuckles once more. "We'll get her hooked on sweets. Just you wait, she'll love my baking."

"I look forward to it," he then tells her.

Their conversation dies out and Camille relaxes into her seat as Happy drives them to their destination of the little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria that Pepper once long ago introduced Camille to. Natasha and Pepper are chatting away in the back, and Camille's happy to stay out of their conversation as she watches the city pass by her window. But then a few minutes in, Pepper's calling her name and Camille's glancing over her shoulder at the other blonde. "Hmm, what was that?"

"We asked how Darcy was. We haven't seen her around the tower for weeks now."

The shifter frowns and then glances at Natasha who's waiting for her answer as well, Camille then shrugging with a small smile. "She's fine. Still running around after Foster though she gets paid to do so now."

"Mhm. And why hasn't she been around the tower?" Natasha pushes.

She hesitates for a moment before deciding just to tell them. Natasha was bound to find out anyway. "We broke it off. Long distance wasn't really working out."

"But you were together for three years?!" Was it just Camille or did Pepper actually look sad about this new information?

"And it was a wonderful three years," Camille chuckles in response. "We're still friends so don't worry. I still get random playlists and random texts, and vice versa only I send her drawings instead of music."

Pepper falls silent but Natasha is still staring curiously at the younger blonde. And when Camille shifts uncomfortably under her friend's gaze, the redhead smirks. "What are your thoughts on being set up on a blind date?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"Why not? You're obviously not heartbroken or pining."

"I've been told of your matchmaking stories from Steve. No, thank you."

"But he likes you- really likes you," Natasha continues with a grin. "And I think you like him. Or you could eventually if you already don't."

Camille's gaze narrows and Natasha smirks, and then the shifter is watching as Natasha turns to face Pepper before the two are sharing a quiet conversation with just eyebrow quirks and grins.

A knowing smile spreads across Pepper's lips and then she's staring at Camille. "Yes, I do believe Sergeant Barnes would be an excellent match when you're ready to start dating again."

The younger blonde snorts so hard that she startles Happy and laughs for a few seconds before she realizes her friends aren't laughing. "Wait, you're being serious?"

"Oh, honey," Pepper coos, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from outright laughing as Natasha scoffs, "Duh."

Camille's left to then mull over what Natasha's just told her, left to wonder about Barnes' reaction towards her ever since he's come to live at the tower and huh- maybe he does like-

"We're here," Happy states, pulling her from her thoughts.

Camille jumps and gulps, and Pepper and Natasha laugh at her reaction. Though after they've piled out from the car and are dropped off in front of the establishment so Happy can park around back, Camille's smiling as she stretches her arms outward before giving a twirl. "Is it weird that I absolutely love the city at night time?"

"Not at all," Pepper answers.

Natasha catches the younger girl around the neck with her arm, bringing Camille down low in a friendly headlock as Pepper holds the door open for them. She smiles fondly as the two women- who've become family to her- enter the establishment while laughing and joking, grateful for the way Camille's managed to tear down Natasha's walls like no one else was capable of.

Natasha and Camille then weave their way though the crowded pizzeria, the two girls choosing a back booth so Natasha can have her back to the wall and eyes on the exits. Pepper gets shoved into the corner and then Camille's taking the remaining seat- leaving her back vulnerable and trusting Natasha to call out any threats.

The three women order a large Supreme and split a cold pitcher of beer, talking about anything and everything they need catching up on. Especially about how Camille never saw how Barnes stared at her like a love struck child.

The pizzeria is noisy and loud but Natasha does a sweep of the joint from her position every couple of minutes.

It isn't until Camille's laughing with tears leaking from the corner of her eyes at some story Pepper's just told about Tony's trashy one night stands years ago- the ones Pepper had to get rid of when she was just an assistant- that Natasha sobers up and taps Camille's ankle twice with her own foot.

Camille sobers up just as quickly when she gets the signal, back going ramrod straight. "Situation?"

And yeah, Pepper's definitely not giggling anymore and trying to remain as calm and collected as possible. She knows the drill.

"Three males," the redhead answers, smiling and averting her gaze before continuing. "Baseball caps, hooded sweatshirts, hands in their pockets." She pauses again, looking to Pepper and laughing before picking up her beer mug only to pretend to sip it. Camille shifts uncomfortably in her seat, wishing she could glance over her shoulder but the terse and obvious head shake of _no_ from Natasha has her keeping still. "One of them is scoping the place out; sweating. Amateurs who will shoot at first spook."

"What's the plan?"

When Natasha glances back in the direction of the three males, she tenses and Camille softly swears. "We're winging it. I've just been compromised."

Natasha throws herself to the side just as gunfire erupts, Camille throwing herself atop of Pepper and dragging themselves beneath the table. There's yelling going on, one of the suspects yelling about this being _a robbery_ and for everyone to get down _,_ and Camille curses their luck. They would get stuck in the middle of such an ordinary crime.

With civilians screaming and crying, Camille knows she can't shift in such a crowded place. Instead, she'd have to rely on hand-to-hand combat like Natasha or use her trusty throwing daggers and pray that the civilians remain crouched. God, she hopes Happy doesn't come rushing in. She doesn't need the man getting shot or worse.. killed.

She barely has enough time to see Natasha's quick nod before the redhead is returning fire, Camille quickly crawling out from atop of Pepper and pulling out a dagger. And when one of the suspects spots her, he turns to aim at her but she lets her dagger fly and watches as it embeds in his shoulder. With a cry, the guy stumbles back but still manages to fire off a few rounds.

The triumphant grin is wiped from Camille's face as she stumbles back in shock, pain blossoming in her chest. The people near her are crying out even more and then Natasha's taking care of the last two men, and as Natasha yells for everyone to vacate the premises, everyone starts scrambling for an exit.

Pepper scrambles out from beneath the table, sighing out in relief but the second she takes in the sight of Camille, her facial expression crumbles and she's calling out for Natasha. Numbly, Camille glances down and finds a hole in her shirt just off center and to the left, her shirt shades darker and damper than it should be.

When her hand raises to touch the dark spot and her fingers come away red, Camille's knees give out but Natasha's there to catch her. "Hey.. hey, I've got you. I've got you." Camille coughs, blood coating her lips and spraying across Natasha cheek and neck just as the redhead turns towards Pepper. "Out the back. Now! Tell Happy to start the car." And then glancing back at the blonde in her arms, Natasha's voice trembles. "Keep your eyes open, Camille, okay? You gotta keep 'em open."

Taking a second to steel herself, Natasha pulls one of Camille's arms around the back of her neck and then takes the same path that Pepper took towards the kitchen as she yells at everyone to get out of her way. Carrying most of Camille's weight, Natasha takes them through the kitchen and out the back exit where Happy's watching on in horror from the driver's seat and Pepper's in the front passenger seat yelling hysterically into her phone for a medical team to be ready at the tower.

Dragging the wounded shifter into the back seat and reaching over to slam the door shut, Natasha maneuvers them until Camille's laying across the back seat with her upper body in the redhead's lap.

Camille's gasping and whimpering, and Natasha's putting pressure on the wound. "I know it hurts," the assassin gulps down the sudden lump of emotion in her throat. "-but I gotta put pressure to stop the bleeding."

"It- it doesn't- it doesn't hurt," Camille pants.

"That- that's good, right?!" Pepper urges.

But Natasha remains silent, growing cold at realizing that Camille's back and her own lap are becoming damp. The bullet hole is a through-and-through, and Camille's not just bleeding from her chest. "Pepper, give me your scarf."

"P-please- please, don't- don't make me leave."

Natasha's heart skips a beat at Camille's words and her eyes grow damp. Pepper tosses her scarf into the back only to see Natasha ball it up and shove it beneath Camille's back. "We won't," Natasha tells her. "We love having you here." Glancing up, she meets Happy's gaze in the rear view mirror. "Drive. Faster."

"Please.. I don't- I like it here."

"We know you do," Natasha assures her, pressing harder to slow the blood flow and blinking away the tears.

"I- I have family now. Love.. my family."

"We love you, too," Pepper cries from the front.

Camille's eyes close briefly and Natasha panics. "Camille? Open your eyes. Open your eyes, Camille!"

The shifter jolts, her eyes opening as she whimpers. "Please- please don't make me- make me leave." She's panting, coughing, and more blood dribbles from her mouth. "Please- please don't.."

Voice trailing off and chest suddenly ceasing all movement, Natasha gives the Camille a soft shake. _"Sestra?"_

There's no answer as eyes stare up unseeing, and Natasha cries outright for the first time in years for the girl in her lap. Pepper wails when she glances in the back seat only to find Natasha hunched over Camille's body and muttering apologies in Russian.

 **xXx**

When Happy screeches into the underground parking garage, no one moves. The medical team that Bruce has pulled together waits anxiously by the elevator with a gurney and still, no one moves a muscle. Happy is hunched over the steering wheel, Pepper's crying into her hands, and Natasha's back is pressed against the door while one arm is protectively laying across Camille's chest and her free hand is shoved between her thigh and the seat- the assassin's gaze dead and staring into nothing.

Bruce, Tony, Clint, Steve, and Bucky are suddenly running for the car- Tony immediately going for Pepper's door while Bucky goes for the back door at Natasha and Camille's feet, he ripping it off it's hinges in an attempt to hurriedly reach them. But with the door being ripped off, it startles Natasha so badly that her gun is suddenly trained on Bucky staring in shock- it having been gripped tight in hand by her thigh.

Clint manages to push the Soldier out of the way and when he does, he catches Natasha's gaze. "Tash?"

Her aim wavers and her bottom lip trembles, and the Widow sinks back against the door in defeat.

* * *

Camille Saunders is given a private and then public funeral- the first being for every SHIELD associate and the Avengers, and the second being open to the public (although the Avengers showed their face there as well) for the civilians who surprisingly mourned the fallen Avenger. A few protesters had dared to show their face and cause a scene but that was quickly taken care of when the Black Widow lost her temper and punched a man unconscious. After that, no one was too keen on shouting anything negative about the mutant.

Three days after the burial, a tired and sluggish woman sits in the passenger seat of a nondescript black SUV with a dark skinned, eye patch wearing man in the driver's seat. Before them and down at the bottom of the hill, they watch as a group of people surround a fresh mound of dirt- some leaning on others for support.

"Did you see what you needed to see?" he asks.

Eyes blinking slowly, she shrugs. "Did I know them well?"

"..you did."

"Why can't I remember then?"

"We're not sure," he answers. "Which is why we're sending you away to find out without any interruptions. Are you ready to find out who you are, agent Saunders?"

Camille turns towards Director Fury, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt up and over her head. Sinking back into her seat, she tersely nods. "I'm ready, Sir."

* * *

 **Part 1 of 3.**

 **So, are you guys happy I wrote 2 more chapters? Seriously, this chapter had ended when "the Widow sinks back against the door in defeat". But then I got ideas for more and added the end part of this chapter so it slips into part 2 more easily.**


	2. But I Won't Fall

Life at the Tower after Camille's death is excruciatingly.. quiet.

Productivity for SI is at it's all time low with Pepper shutting things down so she has time to properly mourn, and the Avengers are locked away high up in the tower. Tony looses himself in alcohol, Clint disappears into the vents, Bruce is locked away in a Hulk-proof room, Natasha shuts herself away in her own living quarters, and Steve and Bucky hardly leave the gym.

Lady Sif visits in Thor's place to give everyone her heartfelt condolences and apologies from Prince Thor since he can't leave Asgard at the moment, and then takes her leave when there is nothing left to do.

There's anger- at the three men who SHIELD ended up taking into custody since they killed an Avenger- and hurt. The absence of Camille's presence is very noticeable and they can hardly cope with the loss of one of their own.

But life has to go on and things return to normal as much as everyone is capable of returning to normal. Pepper returns to her duties at SI, working overtime to catch up on things, and the Avengers wait on the edge of their seats for any type of call that would have them kicking ass to work out their aggression. Even Bucky, who SHIELD helped clear from any charges the US government tried to pin on him, takes up the duty of being an avenging hero.

A few weeks in, though, and Tony is surprisingly back to his snark and sass. However, he steers clear of pissing off Bruce because the Hulk is now a constant glimmer in the man's eyes. Another few weeks in and Steve's smiling again, and then another week in, Clint's pulling small pranks. Bucky had never been very social but he's now able to stay longer periods of time on the communal floor, and Natasha can finally stand to be around her teammates again.

And when Natasha's given her first non-Avenger related mission, she has to steel herself and keep from looking to her right where Camille would have once stood- ready to partner up and cause mayhem.

Instead, she's once more partnered up with Clint and the two do what they do best.

* * *

 **A Year Since Camille's Death.**

It's been eight months since Natasha has been partnered back up with Clint, and eight months that she wonders what the hell Fury was thinking. Surely he remembered Budapest, so why in his right mind did he think partnering the Black Widow back up with Hawkeye was such a good idea? Again?!

 _"This is such a bad idea,"_ Clint snorts over comms.

"You're the one who wanted to hit this base," Natasha mutters, fingers flying over a control panel inside the quinjet. "This should be an Avenger mission but no, you wanted to hit it now."

 _"It's HYDRA, Tash."_ Is the only response she receives, as if saying that's enough reason to do it now.

"Yes, well, if you get me banned from yet another city in Eastern Europe, I'll murder you."

 _"As if that's ever stopped you before."_

"Shutup, plant your bombs, and get your ass back to the jet."

 _"..Yes, ma'am."_

Natasha rolls her eyes, vowing to make Clint pay for calling her _ma'am_ \- not even Steve called her that- and readies the jet for liftoff as soon as Clint's inside.

They were on an average _T_ _ake The Bad Guy Out Before He Takes Out Any More People_ mission when some of the Widow's old contacts came through about a HYDRA base that was starting to gain some new ground. And since the Black Widow and Hawkeye were in town, Clint begged to take a look at it only to find a bunch of bunkers surrounding what they suspected was a seemingly forgotten Hydra base. Only, it wasn't as forgotten as it looked and it appeared people were in and out frequently so, of course, Clint wanted to blow it up.

 _ **BOOM!**_

Natasha jerks to attention, head turning to the opened ramp of the jet and eyes scanning the snow covered ground of the surrounding woods. There's no sign of Clint and Natasha's immediately suspicious.

 _ **BOOM!**_

"Hawkeye, status report?"

 _"A hundreds yards to your West and closing. Fast."_

"Couldn't wait to blow your load, could you?"

 _"Har har."_ Natasha smirks at Clint's totally sarcastic laugh, sobering quickly with his next words. _"Bombs aren't mine. Ours are remote controlled and I'm pretty sure I haven't clicked the little red button yet."_

"Shit. Friend or foe?"

 _"Not sure."_ A second passes and the Clint's swearing up a storm. _"These new guys, however, definitely foe. Seems our bomber pissed off some goons."_

 _ **BOOM!**_

Gunshots sound a little too closely and Natasha jumps to her feet. She charges the Widow's Bite on her right wrist and releases two glocks from her thigh holsters before cautiously walking down the ramp. Though the second she's standing in the opening, bullets start pinging off the interior of the jet. Natasha returns fire, running out into the fray and joins the fight.

Men, and possibly women, are running around in tactical gear and helmets- said helmets having blacked out visors- and carrying/firing assault rifles. Natasha's firing off round after round, shuffling to the side and running backward to take cover on the side of the quinjet.

"Clint, status report?"

 _"Held up. Sorry, Tash, you're on your own."_

Huffing, Natasha throws her glocks to the ground when they run out of ammo, runs behind trees and ducks behind low crowded shrubbery. She then pulls two shock batons from the back of her belt, clicks them on and grins at the buzz of electricity. "Thank you, Stark, for upping the voltage."

A group of six goons are marching- _running?-_ towards Natasha's location, and she takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly. As soon as they're near, she leaps from her spot and slams the end of one of the batons in between the vest and helmet of the first goon. He convulses before dropping, and Natasha gracefully weaves and dodges any attempt of being gunned down.

The enemy's tactical clothing is shit compared to what Stark makes for the Avengers, so even as the length of Natasha's batons touch arms or legs, they're still electrocuted quite nicely. Twirling and lowering to one knee, Natasha drops two more with shock batons to the groin.

Natasha rolls as bullets hit the spot she'd just been kneeling in, and sweeps another goon off their feet before kicking them twice in the helmet until they're not moving anymore. A bullet catches her in the arm but before Natasha can fight back or flee, a pale hand is sneaking up from behind the enemy's head and gripping onto the front of their helmet to expose the goon's neck, and then another pale hand gripping a dagger is flying to the front and slicing across the exposed flesh.

A black round disk is then thrown onto the last remaining goon, sticking to the front of his chest, and Natasha watches on in horrified awe as the goon literally disintegrates right before her eyes.

" _Go to Sokovia_ he said," the mysterious stranger- a woman- grunts. Natasha's gaze zeroes in on the woman, crouched with her batons buzzing and ready. " _You'll be fine with this small branch of SHIELD_ he said." The body finally drops from her grip but she turns before Natasha can look at her face, a dagger being cleaned off on her leg before being shoved into it's holster at the small of her back. "Stupid one-eyed pirate.. s'gonna hear from me when I get out of these god forsaken woods!"

Natasha watches as the blonde woman gets further and further away, something about her walk and familiar half shaven head bothering the redhead, never mind the fact she was actually mumbling about Director Fury. The Widow gulps as the woman comes upon yet another bunker, turning slightly and the air whooshes from Natasha's lung.

But no.. it _couldn't_ be. She's dead.

 _"Nat, be ready in two."_

Clint goes unheard and Natasha slowly rises to her full height, confused and breathing a little too harshly as she focuses intensely on the being before her.

The woman's pulling a rectangular object from one of her many pockets on her tactical vest, pressing buttons and then tossing it into an opening on the bunker she's standing next to, casually walking away as it erupts in an explosion of flames behind her.

 _"Blowing the bombs in 3.."_

Blonde hair gets pushed behind an ear, her head turns fully to face Natasha, and the shock batons fall from the Black Widow's hands.

" _..2.."_

"Camille..?"

The blonde startles at her name, squinting her eyes directly at the redhead and tilting her head in a curious manner.

".. _1."_

 _ **BOOM!**_

Natasha startles, eyes blinking rapidly to rid the wetness gathering and glances all around herself at being caught off guard by the explosions going on. Though when she glances at the spot her friend- her _sister-_ last stood, no one's there.

 _"Nat! I'm the jet. Where the hell are you?!"_

"C-coming. I'm coming."

Natasha quickly regains her composure, bends down to pick up her shock batons and holsters them before running back to the quinjet. Clint's already in the cockpit, strapped in and headset on as she runs up the ramp, he smirking over his shoulder when he spots her.

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." Natasha's head jerks in his direction, eyes wide and completely opposite of the Black Widow's usual calm and collected demeanor. Clint's smirk falters as he flips switches, all the while his partner not uttering a single word. "Tash?"

The ramp's closing and Natasha gulps. "I think I saw Camille."

There's a distinctive feline growl after her exclamation, she whirling around and pressing her back up against the side of the quinjet as a large black feline jumps through the opening of the ramp right before it fully closes. Clint tries to scramble from his seat, realizing a second later that he's still strapped in and quickly releases all the restraints before climbing to his feet.

As the cat slinks further into the jet, they notice that it's a black panther. It sits back on it's hind legs calmly, whiskers twitching as it's tail swishes back and forth along the floor. It's staring directly at Natasha, head tilting in an eerily familiar manner to that of a human.

"What.. what's going on?" he murmurs, hands itching for his bow as Natasha just stares numbly.

The panther's head turns in Clint's direction as he's creeping along the wall, slowly pushing itself to stand on all fours once more. It crouches as if preparing to pounce and Clint freezes, and when it does finally decide to pounce, Clint jerks back. But the panther surprisingly shifts it's form to a hawk- of all animals- and flaps it's wings to hold it's presence mid-air before flying over to an overhead railing, and lands.

Clint has a similar reaction as Natasha did when she first spotted their friend, the air whooshing from his lungs. He chokes off mid-sob, eyes wide as he stares up. "Camille..? But- but how?!"

Natasha's staring numbly at the hawk, expression neutral as she slides down into a seat. The hawk ruffles it's feathers and Clint drops into a seat next to his partner, the bird leaping from the railing and transforming once again. Although instead of yet another animal, it's human.

 _She's_ human.

She's the same pale skinned woman they'd grown to know and love, small nose upturned and familiar sparkling light blue eyes. Her head is still half shaven, blonde hair falling to one side just passed her shoulder and vine tattoo on the shaved part of her skull. "You know me," she finally says, grinning softly and head tilting to the side in a curious manner. "How?"

Any hope and happiness that the two partners were feeling is quickly smothered, the two agents going rigid and tense. "What?" Natasha nearly spits in anger.

Camille turns to Natasha, squinting at the redhead before shrugging. "Your red hair is familiar," her grin blossoms into a fond smile. "-and when I saw you outside, I felt the urge to shift into a panther. Then I saw him," she then looks to Clint. "-and again felt the urge to shift, but into a hawk this time. Funny given your code name," she chuckles and then slowly sobers up. "But I don't know how I know you or you know I."

Anger burning in his gaze, Clint tries to explain things to Camille calmly. "Nat rescued you from a group of anti-mutant assholes. You wouldn't speak to anyone so SHIELD sent you to live with us- the Avengers." She seems to take that information in, brow furrowing and forehead scrunching as if trying to recall it. "How are you alive, Camille? And how long have you been here?"

It's takes a minute for Camille to snap out of her thoughts, her distant gaze darting between Clint and Nat. "I- I'm not sure. I've been.. I've been here for nearly a year."

"A year?!" Clint jumps to his feet and Natasha looks even angrier than she did moments ago. "A fuckin' year?! But then that would mean.." he trails off, doing the math in his head. "No. No," he scoffs. "You died in Nat's arms. We would've known had you lived."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Natasha deadpans, jaw clenching. "While I get Fury on the line to explain, you check her for a photostatic veil. Not all mutants are as unique as they think, and tattoos and hairstyles are easily imitable. It would be just like SHIELD to try and imitate one of their versatile agents. It would also explain why they kept her so far away from us."

Natasha stands and walks towards the cockpit without sparing Camille another glance, and Clint gapes at his partner at being so cold. But then again, Nat did hold Camille in her arms as she died- she was covered in Camille's blood- and they all attended Camille's funeral. So it was only right that they take caution with this look-a-like.

 _But she turned into Nat's panther and my hawk,_ he mentally muses as he nears Camille to do as he was told. No use in pissing off his partner any further.

Camille shrugs as if it's no biggie, grinning sheepishly and standing before Clint. They can hear Natasha angrily tapping away on a tablet, grumbling in Russian beneath her breath, and Camille spreads her arms as if she was about to be patted down.

Clint sighs and hesitantly reaches up with his hands, stopping just inches from her face. "Go on," she tells him. "Not sure what you're looking for so.. have at it."

Clint's fingers then start behind her ear, his breathing stuttering as he checks her ears and then along her hairline for the tiny gadget. "It's a facial mask," he explains. "Technological film to make someone look identical to someone else."

"Oh."

 _"Romanoff."_

"Director."

Clint and Camille turns towards the cockpit at the sound of voices, both watching as Natasha walks towards them- tablet in hand until she shoves it onto the left wall of the quinjet where the small screen goes blank and then an even bigger screen appears on the wall.

With Natasha, Clint, _and_ Camille on screen now, the Director goes still. _"Oh, for fucks sake."_ His one eye narrows and then he's leaning even closer to the camera as if trying to intimidate them. _"Romanoff, Barton, what the hell are you doing with agent Saunders?!"_

"What are we.." Clint scoffs incredulously. "Seriously?! _What are we doing_ _with agent Saunders?_ That's your question?! What the hell is she doing alive, Director?!"

 _"I asked you a question, agent."_

Clint gapes, his head jerking to face Natasha's direction as if he can't believe the Director is so calm and collected about Camille's presence. "We got a lead on HYDRA activity," Natasha says just as calmly. Deadly. "We checked it out and were in the middle of dismantling their base when agent Saunders beat us to the punch."

Fury's gaze moves so he's staring directly at the middle of the screen instead of slightly to right where he was staring at Natasha. After a few seconds pass, Camille realizes he's waiting on her. "Oh. Yeah, " she shrugs as if it's no big deal. "Your current vetting officer? Total traitor so you might wanna sack him. We were under the impression this SHIELD base was secured but, uh, totally not. Every single one of them were HYDRA."

Clint and Natasha tense, both of their heads turning to face the younger agent. _"Were?"_

Camille gulps and her back straightens so she's at full height. Hands clasping behind her back and shoulders squared, the shifter holds her head high and meets Fury's gaze though the camera. "Each and every one of them are either dead or currently burning to death. The missions- they were questionable, Sir. Not all of my jobs felt right but I played the good little agent since some of this was new to me and I was easily rising in their ranks.

"When they tried to finally bring me into the fold this afternoon- well," she shrugs then, letting her shoulders droop just the slightest. "-you know how it is with them. Hail HYDRA or die. I chose to go out in a blazing glory but imagine my surprise when skills I didn't know I possessed started coming to me mid-fight."

 _"So you killed anyone and everyone who we could've interrogated, and burned down a facility with possible intel?"_

"Please," Camille surprisingly scoffs, muscles relaxing. "I'm amnesic, Director, not a moron." Her hands release from behind her, her hands then coming up to one of the numerous pockets on the front of her vest. Opening a flap and digging inside, she produces three USB sticks. "These imbeciles taught me to hack. I downloaded every single file on their servers before frying them and burning everything to the ground."

Fury nods once, lips twitching. _"Good job, agent."_

"Thank you, Sir."

There's a lull in the conversation, the tension thick inside the quinjet until Clint finally snaps.

"Now will you tell us what the fuck Camille's doing alive?! We buried her."

 _"You buried an empty casket, agent Barton,"_ Fury's eyebrow quirks at Clint's glower. _"And this is your reaction? I thought you'd be happy."_

"We are happy," Natasha deadpans yet again. With a brief glance over her shoulder at the agent in question and before Clint can make a fool out himself or piss off the Director- the only man who has their answers- Natasha continues. "But we're also confused and angry as hell. Why weren't we told?"

Fury sighs as he leans back in his chair, shifting his weight to the side so he's leaning on his elbow that's planted on the arm rest of his chair. _"Agent Saunders went into surgery- a type of 'Break In Case of Avenger Death Emergency procedure- as soon as SHIELD recovered the body. Exactly two hours later, we revived her."_ Clint exhales loudly and Camille hesitantly reaches up to grip his shoulder in hand. And when he glances back at her, she smiles sadly. _"The procedure was never tested on a human so we didn't expect the.. side effects. We were prepared to send her back to Stark Tower to be under your care but.."_

"But?" Natasha prompts.

 _"Agent Saunders couldn't remember what had happened or where she was."_

"That's understandable given the trauma she'd been through," the redhead shrugs. "What aren't you telling us? What happened that you decided to keep her hidden so far away?"

 _"She then proceeded to ask for her parents."_ Fury pauses and both Clint and Natasha shift, turning so they could see both Camille and Fury on camera. Camille- for her part- actually looks ashamed even though there's no reason for it. _"I appeared in the room, then, to remind her what had happened but she didn't believe me. She didn't know who I was, didn't know who Coulson was, didn't remember being kidnapped, and didn't believe she was an agent._

 _"We gave her a sedative to calm down and sleep through the night, hoping she'd gather herself by morning. But come morning, she still asked for her parents. We tried to tell her she lived with the Avengers- that she_ was _an Avenger- but the more we told her the more we-"_

Surprisingly, the Director trails off rather uncomfortably and Camille sighs before continuing for him. "The more they told me, the more my brain was overwhelmed trying to piece together my so-called life. And when I get overwhelmed by trying to remember, I have seizures." Startled, the two elder agents stare disbelievingly at Camille as she appears to shrink in on herself. "So after a handful of seizures, Director Fury just stopped trying. The doctors believed that my memories would eventually come back- and they have, just not as fast as I hoped- and I was sent here to Sokovia where no one knew who I was and I didn't know who they were so I could work through my memories all on my own."

"So you don't remember us?" Clint asks, heartbreaking-ly quiet.

"I- I'm not sure." Chewing on her bottom lip nervously, Camille lets herself meet Clint's stare. "Her hair," she gestures to Natasha without looking at her. "-it triggered something in the back of my mind. That and the fact that she didn't attack me- and also called me by name- led me to believe she was friendly and that she knew me. And then I see you," her voice cracks, tears swimming in her eyes. "-and you call me by name and I- I-"

 _"Agent Saunders."_ Fury calls out. _"Camille!"_ he then shouts, startling the shifter to glance up at him. _"Don't force it. I'm sure agents Barton and Romanoff understand completely that your health is far more important than remembering the past."_

Gulping, Camille quickly wipes at her cheeks and shakily nods. "I'm sorry," Clint tells her and then glances back at the screen where Fury is practically glaring now. "What's the plan now, Sir?"

 _"The plan is to return to Headquarters, debrief, and get me those damn USB sticks. After that.. agent Saunders can decide on what she wants to do. Now that you two know, it's only a matter of time before everyone else finds out and I rather not be held responsible if she chooses to not wanna see the rest of the team."_ Then making direct eye contact with Camille, Fury says, _"Don't let them persuade your decision, agent. Do this at your own pace. Understand?"_

"Understood, Sir."

 _"Then good. I'll see you soon."_

The screen goes blank and Camille seems to exhale in relief. Natasha and Clint are both angled towards her now, arms crossed over their chests and facial expressions guarded as Camille glances down at herself before unclipping the tactical vest from her shoulders which then leaves her in a long sleeve leather top, leather pants, and knee-high boots.

"We don't need your answer now," Natasha starts.

"But we'd like to know if you're any closer to a specific answer on where you'll want to stay," Clint finishes. "I- _we_ don't want to get our hopes up."

Camille wishes she could remember everything right now- the looks she's receiving doing everything to make her heart ache though she knows they're not doing it on purpose. The Black Widow- all hard lines, hard stares, and deadly beauty looks seconds away from cracking and Camille _wants._

"I," she gulps, the tears threatening to reappear. "I want to go home," she murmurs. Clint and Natasha- who had been mid-turn freeze- and then turn curious stares on her. "Ever since I've been here, I knew I didn't belong. Something.. something in the back of my mind knew I was meant to be elsewhere but I didn't know where that was. And then I meet you-" her gaze ping pongs between Hawkeye and the Black Widow , tears finally spilling over. "..and I- I just want to go _home_."

Clint's the first to lunge for a hug, arms tight around her and pinning Camille's own arms to her sides. His face buries itself in the crook of her neck and if she feels a sudden dampness there, she doesn't mention it. Instead, she buries her face as best she can against his own shoulder.

And then all too soon, Clint's releasing her before making his way towards the cockpit without so much as a backwards glance, and Natasha's stepping in Camille's personal space. The Widow's hug is cautious and slow, and instead of trapping Camille's arms once more, Natasha makes sure that her arms slide beneath Camille's.

It's only when Natasha's squeezing in comfort and relief does Camille allow her arms to raise and return the embrace- sinking into the odd familiarity of it. "Lets go home, _sestra_. Lets go home."

* * *

 **Part 2 of 3.**

 **In this universe, any happenings of Age of Ultron does NOT exist. I just borrowed Sokovia and the somewhat-HYDRA base there as a place for Camille to be shipped of to. Hope that makes sense.**

 **Also, if you know me, I usually create a Polyvore set for something I post and YES, THERE ARE POLYVORE SETS FOR THIS! For some reason, FF isn't letting us do links on our profiles anymore so my polyvore name is "crossxover".**


	3. I am Titanium

When Clint, Natasha, and Camille show up to Headquarters- the two older agents watch in fascination as the younger agent preps herself in the back on the quinjet before they can step out. There's neck stretches, shoulder rotations, and the mumbled, _"Think murder, think murder, think murder, and walk!",_ just as the ramp finishes lowering and she strides off with determination.

Clint and Natasha's fascination then turn into audible snorts, the both of them watching as some agents actually scramble out of Camille's path- the two of them then following and hurrying to catch up.

All three agents are sent to separate rooms, each of them debriefing on their own. Camille's the last one out, tired and yawning, and gesturing over her shoulder when she's met with Clint and Natasha's stare. "I'm gonna grab a shower, change, and gather what little belongings I have here. Sound good?"

"S'fine," Clint waves her off. "We'll go raid the lunchroom. Want anything specific?"

"They won't have what I want here. Is it too much to ask if we can order in pizza and beer? Haven't had that in a while."

Natasha slowly smirks, shaking her head. "We'll order when we're at the tower. Go shower and we'll wait."

So Camille showers, changes into a grey tank top that flashes some skin on her belly with the words _Dream on Dreamer_ on the front, long side seams that fall down passed her hips, and the racer back knotted. Her short, cut-off jean shorts are an even darker gray with zipper pockets, and she completes the look with gray converse. Then gathering what little personal nick-knacks and clothing she had stored at HQ, she heads out to meet up with Director Fury and her two friends.

When she spots them all on their lonesome, Camille allows herself to teasingly grin and Fury rolls his eyes. "You're a pain in my ass, Saunders. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Of course, Sir," she answers at the same time Clint mutters, "Some things never change."

 **xXx**

Once they're tucked away in the privacy of the quinjet and getting comfortable before liftoff, Natasha wonders aloud how they're going to head in to the tower. Given how delicate Camille's mind is, they don't want the rest of the team throwing out question after question so they eventually decide on Clint and Natasha stepping out first to prep them for the shock of their life. And once they're in the air, Clint's huffing and puffing about how Cap's going to be pissed because he and Bucky were still hunting down HYDRA bases and they didn't get a chance to have a little fun with the one they'd found. Also, any intel they could have gotten their hands on was already in SHIELD's possession.

"Does the Winter Soldier mean anything to you guys?" Camille asks out of the blue, brows furrowed and gaze miles away even as Clint and Nat turn to stare at her. "Does he mean something to _me_?"

There a hesitant silence and then, "Why do you ask?" Natasha wonders.

Camille opens her mouth to speak, then closes it a moment later. Her head tilts as if she's trying to figure something out, her forehead creases, and her eyes crinkle as if a headache is setting in. "It's just- I'm not-" she huffs, groaning another second later as she presses the palms of her hands against her eye sockets before exhaling and looking up with a frown. "When I was gathering intel, I ran across hundreds of files on the Winter Soldier. Something about the man's picture prompted me to immediately download them for further investigation."

"The Winter Soldier- Bucky," Natasha clarifies slowly. "-is your friend. At one point, it could have been something more but- you-"

"I died and forgot my Avenger life."

Natasha blinks. Minutely gulps. And then nods. "Exactly."

A small blush colors Camille's cheeks seconds later and Natasha narrows her gaze, the blush being very interesting to the assassin. Even more so is the way Camille's eyes widen when she notices Natasha's scrutiny and averts her gaze as quickly as possible.

"Oh, man," Clint snorts, oblivious to what's going on. "Cap's gonna hound the Director until they hand over those files."

"The Director doesn't have them."

Clint jerks in his seat, his head turning as much as possible to peer over his shoulder. "What do you mean he doesn't have them?"

And shrugging, Camille leans forward in her seat only to reach a hand behind her and pulls a small USB stick from her back pocket. "We're family, no? Something about this man made me download every little detail about him. And since we're going home, I felt it right that this stick go with me."

Silence..

And the Clint's laughing a full belly laugh and Natasha's grinning proudly. "Aw, hell," Hawkeye chuckles. "If the boys didn't see you as family, I'm pretty sure Steve would kiss you. But now that I'm thinking about it, Barnes will probably shove his tongue down your throat once he gets his shit together."

That damn blush makes it's appearance once more and Natasha's grin widens into something along the lines of Chesire-y. And when Camille catches the grin, she grumbles obscenities beneath her breath and shoves the USB back in her pocket for safekeeping.

 **xXx**

Just as they're a few minutes away from Stark tower, Natasha makes the call to Steve and has him assemble an emergency team meeting- a meeting which needs to include Pepper. Camille can hear Natasha arguing with the Captain- she telling him that it's nothing dangerous but.. well, he'd just have to wait and see. She hangs up and turns off her phone in order to co-pilot the jet.

And then when the jet is finally landing, Clint calls back to warn her that the whole team is crowded atop the roof- surrounding the landing pad. Natasha unbuckles herself first, telling Camille to stay put while they prepare everyone for her appearance. She tells the shifter they'll do their best to thwart all questions but if they can't, then Camille's to shift and fly to the next building's rooftop until the team understands to not overwhelm her with memories she can't remember.

Camille tersely nods, unbuckling herself from her seat but stays put. Her right knee bounces anxiously and then all too soon, Clint's joining Nat at the back of the jet and waiting for the ramp to lower so they can make their exit.

Voices can be heard all at once, numerous demands to know what's going on, and then Clint's whistling sharply to make everyone shut up. She can hear Natasha relaying the events of Sokovia though she doesn't use Camille's name, she can hear Natasha say to not ask questions immediately, and then Clint's calling out, _"Hey, kid, come say hello!"_

The rooftop falls silent and Camille braces herself for all possible reactions these people will have at her sudden appearance. Though she doesn't specifically remember her time with any of them, she does remember when Fury told her that these people saw her as family. So she takes a deep breath and exhales loudly, stands to her feet and walks slowly towards the top of the ramp. Hesitantly and cautiously, she walks down and her gaze immediately falls to her feet when she hears the gasps, obscene exclamations, and a choked back sob.

"Camille?"

Gaze snapping up, Camille watches as a woman in a white pant suit stumbles forward, tears slipping down her face and a hand covering her mouth in shock. The shifter offers a shaky grin and her thumbs hook in the front pockets of her shorts. The woman in the pant suit shakily reaches up with a hand, intent to possibly check if Camille's real but then an agonized grunt and roar makes them freeze.

Heart beating frantically, Camille lets herself be pulled back by a strong grip on her bicep while Natasha reaches for Pepper. Glancing to her right, she sees Clint dragging her back towards jet but she digs her heels into the ground when her attention whirls to the sight of a man in a purple button down and a white lab coat _growing_ and _turning green_.

"Camille, get in the jet. Now!" Clint shouts.

But Clint goes unheard as pieces of a metal suit appear from out of nowhere, clinging and assembling around who she guesses is Iron Man. There's a blonde man with ridiculous muscles and a shirt that appears to be the wrong size- _but who cares when there's a giant green man roaring_ \- who's torn between glancing at the green man and her, and then there's a man with a metal arm though he looks quite different now than what Camille's seen from pictures.

The green man- _the Hulk,_ her brain supplies- starts pounding fists atop the rooftop. He's spitting mad, growling at the assembled group until his gaze lands on Camille. And was it her or are his eyes suspiciously glossy? Sad, maybe. Possibly hopeful but definitely watery. **"Kitty?"**

The metal armed man, the man with too short hair now- _the Winter Soldier-_ stares frantically between the Hulk and Camille, and then he's reaching into the back waistband of his jeans to pull free a gun. Something pulls at the back of Camille's mind, brow furrowing and gut clenching. The Soldier pulls the attention on himself and the Hulk roars once more but this time, he's even angrier since the Soldier is pointing a weapon at him.

One meaty green fist swipes at the Soldier in warning and the Soldier's grip on the gun tightens. For a split second, it feels like Camille's heart has stopped beating and then she's shouting, "NO!"

Ripping free from Barton's grasp, Camille's feet are carrying her forward and her form's shifting without much thought. A lioness lands between the now startled Hulk and Winter Soldier, ears flat against her head and mouth opening wide in a hissing growl while a large paw of sharp claws swipes out in warning at the Hulk.

The rooftop's occupants go deadly silent, and a moment later the Hulk huffs and shakes his head in fond exasperation.

"Uh," Iron Man suddenly says. "Deja vu, anyone?"

The lioness slowly lets the tension drain from her feline form, images of the Hulk, a ruined lab, and an elder agent who looks suspiciously like agent Coulson- only blurrier- flashes before her eyes.

The whole team watches as the lioness seems to stumble, her head shaking as if trying to rid it of some unwanted flying gnats. The lioness then stumbles some more before collapsing, and Clint and Natasha rush to her side.

"Camille?!"

Convulsing, the lioness immediately shifts back into to Camille's human form. Her eyes are rolled into the back of her head, and Clint and Natasha are pulling the shifter onto her side and her pinning her arms down.

"What the fuck's going on?!" Bucky snarls. His grip goes slack on his weapon before it falls at his feet, and he hovers over the kneeling agents.

"It's why we asked you don't ask questions right away," Natasha frantically tells him while Clint leaves to hesitantly approach the Hulk and ask for Bruce to come back out. "Her- her memories aren't there anymore," Natasha tells them. "If her brain is overwhelmed with memories, she seizes."

"And you didn't think we ought to know before you dropped this bomb on us?!" Now Stark is snarling, angrily glaring at Natasha.

"It was supposed to be okay- supposed to be fine," she frowns.

Camille's convulsions suddenly stop and then a bare-chested Bruce is standing over them. "Get her down to medical. We'll take a look at her."

And before anyone else can attempt to pick up the unconscious girl, Steve pushes everyone out of the way- including Bucky- and scoops Camille up as tears silently fall from his eyes.

 **xXx**

When laid out on a bed, Bruce immediately sets to work on hooking up wires and sticky pads to Camille's head. A pulse monitor gets clipped onto her finger and then Bruce is scurrying about the bedside with a pen flashlight and looking at her pupil's reaction.

Surprisingly, Bruce lets everyone stay in the room, and Clint and Steve work on gathering chairs to sit opposite of Camille's bed and out of Bruce's way. Once settled, Natasha tells them everything starting from when Clint got the tip off about HYDRA up until them finding Camille tossing bombs around the base and cursing Fury to the high heavens for sticking her out there.

Bucky shakes with anger when he finds out that HYDRA tried recruiting the shifter but everyone's damn proud to learn that Camille turned them down, and took them out one by one until burning the place down when she found an out from the partial underground facility.

Two hours later and Camille's finally waking, groaning and cursing the bright lights. Monitors start beeping like crazy and Bruce is immediately at her side, having JARVIS lower the brightness of the overhead lights.

"Camille, can you tell me what day it is?" Bruce asks, apologizing briefly before checking Camille's pupil dilation with the penlight once again.

"Hell if I know, B. S'been a long day. Or it had," she mumbles, eyes fluttering and missing the shocked expression of Bruce at having been called _B_. That was something she used to call him long ago. "How long have I been out?"

"Couple hours," he tells her, clearing his throat and getting himself under control. "Do you remember what happened before you blacked out?"

"Mhmm," she hums. Head lolling to the side, Camille finds Natasha standing there and staring worriedly. Her gaze travels further down towards the end of the bed she's obviously laying on, and she finds the face of every other Avenger, the woman in the white pant suit- _Pepper!-_ and the Winter Soldier standing around anxiously. "'membered the lab exploding 'cause o'Tony," she then slurs. "And Coulson and the- the Big Guy. Y-you," Camille tiredly meets Bruce's gaze. "You called me Kitty then."

"I did," he chuckles and slowly grins.

Camille returns the grin and averts her gaze back to where the Captain is standing with his arms crossed over his chest. "Uh, Steve, yeah?" And Steve jerks to attention. "Did Tash give you my present?"

"Excuse me?"

"My present to you," she chuckles before groaning. Once the lingering headache subsides, Camille turns her face to Natasha. "D'you tell him about the intel?"

"Intel? What intel?" Steve strides closer to the bed as Natasha shakes her head.

"'Bout the _Soldat,_ " Camille mumbles and Bucky stiffens. She shifts over on her side and reaches weakly into her back pocket. Pulling free the USB, she holds it up victoriously. "I pulled this mainly for me," she admits and fights off the impending blush when she sees Natasha smirk in her peripheral. "But Clint said you'd appreciate it more."

Steve catches the USB stick when it's tossed to him, eyes wide as he stares at it and then at Camille. "T-thank you."

"No problem."

"Why?" The attention is on Bucky now, he stepping up to Steve's side. "Why'd you pull this intel? And what do you mean that you mainly pulled it for _you_?"

Camille watches Bucky- the way his stubbled jaw clenches every other second and the way the metal plates of his arm shift. He's staring at her, his stare hard but she doesn't detect any anger directed at her. "You were familiar," she shrugs. "I saw your picture in one of the files and the nerve endings in my brain starting firing off- trying to tell me that I knew you.. but I couldn't figure out how. It wasn't until I was in the quinjet that Natasha told me we were friends."

Bucky gulps.. and nods once. "We were." And then. "We _are._ "

Camille smiles at him but the second a smirk tilts the corner of his lips, she has to avert her gaze or risk blushing like mad. _Stupid feeling I don't completely understand yet,_ she mentally chastises herself.

Steve and Bucky quickly give the excuse of checking out what Camille's brought back for them but not before thanking her and welcoming her back, and Clint, too, takes his leave after cracking a joke about rejoining the realm of the living.

Bruce is back to monitoring the screens around Camille's bed, and then Tony and Pepper are taking the vacated spot. Tony keeps gaping every now and then, his facial expressions ticking from one emotion to another, and Pepper's barely holding herself together.

The shifter doesn't flinch or deny Pepper when the woman reaches to grasp her hand but when they make skin contact, Camille zones out. Nothing hurts this time as images flash in Camille's mind, but she can't exactly keep up with what her brain is trying to tell her. Instead, she _feels_ rather than sees the way this tower was once her sanctuary- the way these people treated her as one of their own.

And when Camille makes eye contact with Pepper, the shifter fills with such emotion and recognition for the blonde woman standing over her that she can't help but let tears well and fall. "So will it totally be weird if I sometimes slip and call you _mom?_ "

Pepper bursts then, chest heaving with sobs as she leans down to scoop Camille into a hug. "Oh, honey, welcome home. Welcome home," she murmurs over and over.

* * *

Through the next several weeks, Camille's granted to do as she wishes around the tower. She's given a completely new room and wardrobe as to not interfere with her memory and cause future seizures, and forgotten personal items such as photo albums and sketch pads have become permanent fixtures on the Communal Floor's bookshelf for when she was missed and they needed something of Camille's to look through.

Tony and Pepper take Camille's memory loss the hardest- Bruce trying anything and everything in his power to find a way around the seizures so Camille can have her life back. But the shifter just shakes her head, smiles sadly, and asks to be left alone. As long as no one bombards her with her past, she's fine. Apparently, their faces and her surroundings are enough to keep her a mind abuzz, tidbits of information about the people and places around slowly coming back to her without sending her into convulsions.

So for weeks, Camille goes where her feet carry her and often finds herself either in the communal kitchen, the gym to spar with Natasha, Steve, and sometimes Bucky or in the labs. Apparently, she isn't as sneaky as she thought and Tony immediately granted her access when she was spotted lingering outside the glass doors or his and Bruce's lab.

There are times when she watches Tony and Bruce work that her hands itch to draw. But she can't remember the last time she actually held a pencil or a sketchbook and often finds herself stealing one of Bruce's erasable markers to draw on the glass walls around the lab when no one pays her any attention. At least, she didn't think they were paying attention and only realizes they were when on one of her visits, Camille finds a basket of erasable markers on the table she usually sits at with a note that says _Go crazy!_

Other times when Camille finds herself in the kitchen with a sweet tooth, she picks through the pantry for ingredients of _something_ that she felt she wanted but never put the ingredients together, and walks away with a craving she doesn't understand. And then finally, Steve catches her during a lunch break when he's cooking and shoves a cook book in her hands. Camille stares at it in confusion, the handwriting on the cover obviously belonging to her, and it isn't until she looks through the recipes that she finds what she's craving.

Lemon bars.

Lemon bars that have Tony immediately rushing to the kitchen with a manic look in his eyes and practically bouncing on the tips of his toes until Camille hesitantly pushes a small plate of the tart sweets towards him with amusement dancing in her own eyes.

And then there's the Winter Soldier or Bucky Barnes as everyone calls him now.. unless, of course, they were headed out on a mission. Bucky Barnes who could literally charm any woman out of their panties back in the day- and probably some men out of their boxers or whatever, there was absolutely no judgement whatsoever- and who could possibly still charm men and women out of their undergarments if he smirked just the right way.

Like now, for example, to which Camille mentally groans and averts her gaze as Clint and Steve snicker around her. The smarmy bastard knows the effect he has on her and takes pleasure in seeing the blush staining Camille's cheeks every time they're in the same room. Hell, everyone takes pleasure in Camille's sudden and obvious crush on the man with hair styled like he once wore back in the day.

 _I'm really going to miss that man-bun,_ her mind whispers one night.

* * *

Tony, Steve, Bucky, and Natasha are in Stark's pent house at the very top of the tower, watching as Camille works her magic with a line of Stark laptops at her disposal. When they learned of her newly acquired hacking abilities- _thanks HYDRA-_ and her knowledge of information that SHIELD had and didn't have, Tony begged to see her in action to see what she could copy from SHIELD HQ without them knowing.

Camille's in her zone, typing codes and dropping spyware here and there in SHIELD and HYDRA servers she managed to find after an hour or so of searching. The gathered team members are watching over her shoulder and taking notes on her determination to work for them, and Tony's working from a tablet while occasionally letting out a grunt of triumph or asking how she gets around some fancy secured firewalls.

The sky outside darkens ominously but no one pays it any mind, and then one particularly loud clap of thunder and bright flash of lightning has Camille yelping and jumping up from her stool.

Bucky's the only one on immediate alert- everyone else used to this sort of reaction from her- and he's the only whose gaze is sweeping their surroundings for threats even after Camille calms her beating heart long enough to tell him that she'd forgotten she was terrified of thunderstorms. And when everyone then stares confusedly at her, she shrugs and tells them being underground in Sokovia kept her away from any storms they had to endure.

 _"Sir, I believe Sir Odinson and a guest has arrived."_

"Huh?" Tony finally looks up from his tablet, he being the only one who wasn't effected by the thunder or Camille's yelp. All gazes then swivel to the landing pad that's within viewing range from the room, and sure enough, there stands Thor with a tiny yet curvy brunette wearing a maroon beanie atop her head in his grasp that's slapping at his chest and yelling. "Oh, uh, tell them to come in."

Tony goes back to his tablet but Camille's left to stare out the bank of windows, head tilting as if trying to place the duo as the God of Thunder stares back at her in disbelief. The curvy brunette finally stops her slap-fest, her gaze then turning to see what's captured the mighty blonde's attention. The brunette's knees then seem to buckle when she catches sight of Camille but the God- _Thor!-_ grasps her bicep to hold her upright.

Silence passes and then the duo outside are rushing for the nearest door to permit them inside the tower.

"Camille!" The brunette shouts, startling the mutant shifter until she's stumbling back. Hitting a solid wall of muscle with wide eyes staring at the stranger, Camille's expression of fear and confusion finally makes the the brunette realize that something's up. "Camille..?" her voice cracks.

Hands come down on Camille's shoulders to pull her more firmly against a chest, and when Camille finally glances up and over her shoulder, she finds Bucky glaring at the beanie wearing female.

"Lady Camille," Thor breathes in awe, beaming happily before his smile falls and gives way to confusion. "You.. live?"

"Uh huh," Tony hums, setting down his tablet finally and looking up. "Where the hell have you been, Point Break? Cam's been back for weeks."

"But.. I do not understand," he frowns in confusion.

"Camille..?" the brunette tries again, eyes now red-rimmed. As she steps forward, Bucky practically growls in warning and she freezes. Looking to the others for an answer, the brunette sniffles. "What's going on?"

"I'd like to know as well," Thor says. "Heimdall spoke of knowing of Lady Camille's.. situation, but he mentioned t'was not the right time then to seek her out. As I tended to my duties as future King, Heimdall kept watch. It was only today I found out about everything. I am sorry for not coming sooner."

Camille's glancing between the two newcomers, confusion setting in as well as a new headache. Though when her brow furrows and she winces in pain, Steve steps in. "Buck, take Camille back to the kitchen and pull together something to eat. Thor, Darcy.. you two might wanna take a seat. It's kind of a long story."

Hurt flashes across the brunette's features as the tears finally fall, and Camille has to look away while letting Bucky pull her along into the kitchen. She cringes the moment she overhears Steve telling Thor and the girl- _Darcy!-_ about her memory loss, and the girl outright sobs.

Bucky's then there reaching for one of her hands to squeeze in comfort, and her chest feels tight as she overhears Darcy ask, "So she doesn't remember us? Our relationship?"

"I'm sorry," Steve tells her and Camille cringes again as Darcy cries, and Thor soothes his friend.

Bucky and Camille pull together a bunch of sandwiches and drinks as Steve and Natasha warn them about not bombarding her with questions, and when Bucky motions for Camille to head out first back to the group, she sadly shakes her head. "I'm gonna.. go," she murmurs.

"Why?"

"I- I obviously meant something to her and I don't wanna hurt her anymore with my presence. Did you see her? She looked like I kicked her puppy. I don't wanna be a puppy kicker!"

"You meant something to all of us, doll," Bucky murmurs back, fighting off a grin. "If we can deal, so can she."

Camille falls silent and then groans, nose scrunching in annoyance. "If I make her cry again, Barnes, I'm kicking your ass."

"If you say so, sweetheart," he chuckles.

* * *

Bucky Barnes is not jealous. Nope. Not at all.

Annoyed, however.. most definitely.

Much to the Sergeant's annoyance, Thor and Darcy end up staying for a week after they called up one Dr. Foster to fill her in on what was going on. Darcy had been another person who took Camille's memory loss the hardest but was willing to go by Bruce's orders of not pestering the shifter about her past with any of them. So instead, the curvy brunette had managed bond with Camille all over again by making a playlist, of all things, on a laptop one day while in the communal kitchen.

A small part of him was telling him he was being irrational- that he no right to feel what he felt towards the brunette but he couldn't help it. Camille could have been his at one point before that cluster fuck of a night where she died in Natasha's arm, but now Darcy was back and was not being so secretive about their past relationship that had ended just weeks before Camille had passed.

Since then, Bucky had then managed to always interrupt their time together when on the communal floor, glaring at Darcy when the flirty smiles came out or innuendos started flying. But then Natasha showed up one day out of the blue, whispered something into Darcy's ear which then had Darcy smirking knowingly in his direction.

Annoyed. Yeah, he was definitely annoyed with Darcy's presence by now.

 **xXx**

On Darcy's last day at the tower, Bucky steps off the elevator to find the brunette making sure Camille understands that she has to listen to certain songs in order on her playlist or else she'd throw the whole vibe of jammin' off. He falls back to let the girls talk, but keeps an eye on them from just around the corner.

It's not his fault that the flirty grins and smirks that Darcy shoots Camille make his stomach churn with slight anger/annoyance. Or that his chest aches when Camille returns said grins. But the fact that Camille doesn't blush when Darcy makes innuendos give him a small spark of hope so nothing ever becomes of said anger or.. okay, so fine. He was jealous.

Camille laughs and Bucky's attention is brought back to the blonde whose back is to him, she nodding along to whatever else Darcy is saying and shoving a tupperware container full of baked goods into Darcy's hands. "Sure, D. I won't skip around."

Darcy smirks, her gaze darts down to Camille's lips, and Bucky tenses. Red painted lips move but Bucky pays no attention to the words, and instead watches as those same red lips curve into a smirk. One hand comes up to cup Camille's cheek and guides the blonde's lips to those devious red ones.

Bucky breathes in sharply, part of him wanting to break the girls apart and the other part wanting to see how this plays out. Surprisingly, Camille sinks into Darcy's embrace as hands grip for purchase and a little piece of Bucky slumps in defeat.

And then.. "Anything?" Darcy rasps, catching her breath as she pulls away.

"Uh, no." Camille laughs and shakes her head. "But definitely 10 out of 10; would recommend to a friend."

Darcy laughs, too, and takes another step back. "Only recommend if it's Steve or Clint."

"Gross. I don't- no," Camille laughs some more. "You're on your own trying to get into their pants."

"Shame." Darcy chuckles as she reaches up to push Camille's hair behind her ear, and Bucky's back to scowling at their interaction. The brunette's listening as Camille goes on about keeping in touch via Skype, texting, and through the mail- because _yes!,_ mailing odd nick-knacks to each other seems like fun- when Darcy's gaze flickers up and catches sight of Barnes. That damn smirk is slowly making yet another appearance as she assesses him, and then she's cutting off Camille mid-sentence. "Mhm. Yeah. Will do. And you, young lady, you need to make a move on your guy before he dies of old age."

"I- wait, what?!" Camille squeaks.

Bucky tenses- though for a very different reason this time- and is suddenly very interested in what Darcy now has to say. There's a mischievous glint in Darcy's eyes and huh.. maybe the brunette isn't so bad after all.

"You heard me," Darcy winks. "Make your move on Barnes already!" And yeah, he definitely likes this girl now. "Remember when- oh shit, of course you don't," she snorts. "But, uh, yeah. When we were together, you were definitely crushing' on Captain America's bestie." Camille groans in what he guesses is embarrassment, her head falling forward into her lifted palms but Darcy doesn't relent. And this one time- this is the only time Bucky will allow Darcy to continue plying her friend with memories. "You used to blab all the time how Tall, Dark, and Broody never spent more than five minutes in the room with you, but it seems that all he was waiting for was for you to be single."

"But then I-"

"Yep." Darcy's smirk falters but then she's shrugging it off. "But fret not, babe, he's totally still into you. You just have to open your eyes. And if you two hit it off romantically _and_ sexually, I totally call dibs on the third in your first threesome."

Camille bursts into laughter, straightening up moments later as her hands rub down her face. "Oh my god." Darcy meets Bucky's gaze over Camille's shoulder once again as the blonde continues to giggle, and then Darcy's waggling her eyebrows at him while grinning before quickly looking back to Camille when the laughter subsides. "Don't- don't say shit like that, Darce. JARVIS can hear you."

"JARVIS isn't the only one," Darcy then mutters but Camille catches it.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"You said-"

"I didn't-"

"Darcy!"

"What?!"

"What did-"

"Oh, hey, Barnes! I didn't see you there." the brunette deflects and Camille freezes. "How long have-"

"Hello, Lewis," Bucky finally greets, stepping further into the room. Camille finally turns, cheeks flaming pink and Bucky's lip twitch into a slow grin. "Camille."

"Well, would you look at that," Darcy chuckles nervously. "I should really go find Thor. We really need to be leaving now."

"Bye, Lewis," Bucky then says, gaze stuck on Camille as she glares at her friend and hissing, _"Traitorous bitch!"_

Darcy leaves them and disappears into the elevator, her laughter being heard until the doors slide shut, and then it's only Camille and Bucky.

Shifting from foot to foot nervously, Camille lightly chews on her bottom lip. "So.. you heard, didn't you?"

"Mhm." Bucky confirms and she groans yet again. "But then again, I'm not too keen on sharing. So I'm afraid Lewis is outta luck."

"Oh.. my.. fuck."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, doll," Bucky drawls. He steps even closer, reaching below Camille's chin with his flesh hand and tilting her face upward so she'll look him in the eye. "We're all adults here, Camille. Crushes are nothing to be ashamed of.. or threesomes."

" _Stoppp_ ," she blushes even redder, laughing now and stepping back to put just a little bit of space between them. Seriously, was he trying to kill her?!

Bucky chuckles along with her now, smiling easily and some of the awkwardness dissipates. An easy silence falls over them and Bucky decides to just go for it. "You know your ex is right, right?" he asks, hands sliding into the front pockets of his jeans.

"Huh?"

"That I'm still into you."

"Oh." And then.. _"Oh!"_

"So if you're willing to see where things go between us, I'm definitely on board."

Camille's eyes are wide, darting back and forth between Bucky's heated yet playful gaze and his lips. "I- yeah.. yes. But-"

"But what?" Bucky steps closer once more.

"Won't it be weird?" she asks, letting Bucky reach for her hands. "I'm not who I once was. Sure some of my memories are coming back but there's no telling if I'll ever get them _all_ back."

"And that's fine," Bucky assures her. "We'll take it one day at a time." Camille offers him a fond smile, nodding along in agreement. And from where he's lightly holding onto her hands, Bucky hesitantly lifts his metal hand to cup her cheek. Thumb brushing lightly along her bottom lip, he smirks when her pupils flare in reaction. "I've been waiting a long time to do this, sweetheart."

"Yeah? Then what are you wai-"

Bucky's lips lower to hers slowly, lips molding perfectly together as he angles his head to the right and Camille sighs happily into the kiss.

A part of Camille's soul seems to shift then- a piece she felt at odds with since she'd been brought back to life and told her of absent memories- and she feels at peace. 'Cause no matter what happens now, she's home. Camille Saunders- agent of SHIELD, ex Avenger who's most likely to become an Avenger again- is finally _home._

* * *

 **End.**

 **Woo. You're lucky I wrote this much. Seriously, I was totally going to kill Camille. She was going to be dead-dead. But then I wanted a little bit more of Darcy/Camille and then Camille/Bucky so this was born. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
